Why a connected home feels safer

With smart home automation on the rise, there’s growing demand for intelligent home technology. As many of us are aware, one of the primary reasons consumers purchase smart home automation is to keep their families safe.

So where does security fit in? Safety and functionality are now at the forefront with devices being built today. This focus on safety and security is now being taken one step further, with smart home security systems that let you see and control your home from your phone. Devices such as door, window and motion sensors, are becoming more popular in the marketplace.

That’s why it’s important to get to know what makes a smart home “smart” and secure. There are all sorts of devices that can help prevent break-ins and other disasters.

But why would you go down the smart home security path? Let’s look at the pros and cons.

The Pros

Recent technological upgrades have given homeowners access to the coolest innovations that improve home safety. Here are some of the coolest home security products around, and the benefits of having them in your home:

Benefit: Access to the property is controlled, even if the home owner is not in the premises. Some products also have a recording feature to monitor traffic at home.

Video doorbells- entry systems that allow homeowners to remotely converse with whoever is at the other side of the door without actually having to be in the premises.

Benefit: Video is streamed to your phone, and you can even take pictures of the person outside the door and auto-send it to authorities if you feel that something is off.

Motion sensors- Useful for new construction, vacant homes, or any kind of home with an outgoing owner. For homes that stand empty for a certain period of time, motion sensors are a good installation because they alert you when someone has gained access to the property without consent.

Benefit: You no longer have to worry about going home to a presumed-empty house only to find a dangerous intruder waiting for you.

Door and window monitors- perfect for home owners with active lifestyles; with door and window monitors that feature auto-alarm messages that go to your phone.

Benefit: You no longer have to worry about forgetting to leave the door/window open or unlocked; door and window movement can also be monitored by an installed track app in your phone.

Smart lighting – Smart home systems also program the automatic on-off of lighting systems.

Benefit: This makes your home appear occupied even if you are on vacation.

The Cons

Ultimately, while the IoT is incredibly exciting, it is important to acknowledge the reality of navigating new technology. A tech-savvy home makes it vulnerable to hackers, but steps can be taken to mitigate risk. Wi-Fi networks should never be used to operate smart devices that control your home security features.

By having a WiFi-reliant security system in place, you are sending information your across the internet through your WiFi router. WiFi routers are notoriously susceptible to hacking (just Google it) – and if yours is compromised, vital personal information may be on display to whoever manages to access it.

On the most basic level, someone could use the illegitimately accessed data to know whether you are home or away. Depending on what you have connected to your system, the gravity of a breach becomes all the graver. As an example, think of a WiFi-controlled front door lock: anyone who is able to tap into the system may be able to open your door remotely.

Wait! Don’t give up on smart home security yet…

If you’re starting to think smart home security is a bad idea, stay with me. Not all home security systems utilise WiFi, in fact, many don’t. At carbonTRACK we don’t rely on WiFi at all, especially for security.

Our platform uses encrypted communications over GSM/3G mobile networks to deliver superior reliability and security compared to a WiFi network. And there are others out there too that use different ways to give you remote access and control (though we’re a bit biased and think our’s is the best!).

Here’s the take home: a connected home feels safer, because it is.

When you start prioritizing the security of your home, making it smart will give you and your family some peace of mind because you have control and visibility over what’s happening there at all times. We think it’s time to embrace the security benefits of a connected smart home, so get in touch if you think so too!

In addition to our the safety & reliability of the network we use, there are plenty of other reasons that carbonTRACK is one of the best energy management systems on the market. You can learn about them here.